That's very good. Well done.
I will give my presentation in French. I hope the interpretation is working properly.
On behalf of the president, Mr. Michel Vézina, a resident of Saskatchewan, I would like to thank you this afternoon for your invitation. We are very pleased to present our testimony before the committee.
The Fédération des aînées et aînés francophones du Canada has close to 300,000 members. These people pay dues. We are actually a federation of federations. Our member federations include 12 federations of francophone seniors from all provinces and territories in Canada, except Nunavut. Of the 300,000 seniors who are members, approximately 30,000 live in what we call minority communities. So they live outside Quebec. For example, 13,000 members live in Ontario, 2,000 live in Alberta and close to 2,000 live in Manitoba. So there are a lot of francophones living in minority situations.
I want to talk to you today about treating chronic diseases. The angle I will take on the matter will be a little different from the other presentations that you've listened to, although they were very good and they contained good components. I would like to stress the importance of serving the francophone population.
This is a role and responsibility of the federal government under the Official Languages Act. Part VII of the act requires the government to meet the needs of francophones in minority situations. I think we need to give credit where credit is due. The investment of funds through Health Canada into the two organizations, the Société Santé en français and the Consortium national de formation en santé, for us, marks a unique opportunity to make advances, breakthroughs, to ensure that francophones can receive services in French. But these resources are still limited and the challenges are enormous, especially when it comes to treating chronic diseases.
So today I'd like to talk to you about specific cases, and mainly about the importance of serving the francophone community. Right now, there is a lot of pressure from hospitals with respect to treating chronic diseases. As soon as someone is identified as having a chronic disease, people try to free up the hospital bed and place the person elsewhere as soon as possible. Very often, it is to the detriment of francophones. I'll give you some concrete examples.
You'll recall, about a year and a half ago, a situation that made headlines in the newspapers. The mother of Ms. Lavoie, of Toronto, had Alzheimer's. When a person has this disease, often one of the first faculties to go is the use of the second language. So these people find themselves in a home that provides treatment for chronic diseases. But Ms. Lavoie could not be placed in a home offering services in French. In fact, Toronto has only 17 beds for francophones. At the time, three quarters of the beds were occupied by non-francophones, by anglophones. Ms. Lavoie was required to place her mother in Welland. Surely you know Toronto. Welland is about an hour away by car, when there isn't traffic in Toronto, which is very rare. To visit her mother, who was being treated for chronic diseases, it took her at least two hours of travel time.
Try to imagine the situation and what is involved in placing a person who has lost their second language in a home. It's as if you were placing your mother or father in a home where they only speak Mandarin. It would not be very comforting. This woman experienced the same thing. We are often confronted with cases where seniors are placed in homes that do not offer services in French.
I also want to point out to the committee that when people are sick and vulnerable, they want to receive services in their own language. When people are sick, they want to be sick in French. This is often what we have to face.
When you are vulnerable, you want to be comforted, not fight. When you are in a hospital bed, that isn't the time to fight for your rights. I'll give you another very concrete example to show you how difficult it is.
I'm going to give you the example of my grandfather. Six years ago, my grandfather went to see the doctor. He lives in eastern Ontario, in a community where the population is about 80% francophone. The doctor never asked him if he spoke English. The doctor described his situation to him and told him what to do. Do you know how my grandfather reacted? He said: yes, yes yes. My grandfather doesn't speak English and doesn't understand English. But he was too intimidated and too vulnerable to tell the doctor.
Many years ago, my grandfather and I travelled to western Canada together. I was 12 years old at the time. I would go with him to restaurants so that he could order a hot dog. Imagine. If he had trouble ordering a hot dog in English, understanding the doctors instructions in English would have been a challenge for him.
I could tell you about similar situations. I'll give you an example. I did a national tour of our francophone communities three or four years ago. I was very surprised. I met with francophone seniors who were offended. Their parents had lived their entire lives in French. When the last moments of their lives came, they couldn't be given services in French in the chronic or long-term care homes.
These people wanted to fight. This is why they were in groups for francophone seniors. They fought for that. I met with at least two or three people like that over the course of these encounters.
All that to say that it's important to have chronic care services in French. That's the message I want to pass on.
To conclude, I would like to point out that what's important is the equality of both official languages in Canada. All Canadians need to be able to get services of their choice in both languages. For us, it's essential. Although health care is a provincial responsibility, the federal government has to play an active leadership role in this matter. The provinces are open to it, but the federal government must be very active.
The other important thing is to think in terms of the active offer. It is wishful to think that people are going to demand their services. You can't wait or be passive. Especially when people are in a vulnerable situation, you need to be very active in offering services.
There is another thing to look at. The service criteria is essential. The language of service is essential. I think we need to be proactive and must be able to offer it. It's very important.
The last thing that I would stress is this. When the federal government and all the provinces want to offer services, it is important to continue working with the francophone communities. I think we can help you and support you in that respect. We would be enormously pleased to continue to work toward this.
Thank you very much.